Oath Bound
Page 122
By the time we finished, there was a stack of bodies against one wall and more trash bags than three of us could carry. Kenley was beyond exhausted by then, even though she’d spent most of her time with Julia in a chemical coma. Evidently “unconscious” isn’t the same as “sleeping.” So Kris took her back to the House of Crazy to get cleaned up and rest, where she could keep an eye on Gran and Gran could fuss over her youngest granddaughter.
It took several trips through the shadows to get all the trash out of the warehouse, and once that was done, Kris took me back to the house so I could check on Gran and Kenley and come up with something for dinner. Something that would feed nine.
Gran was glad to see me. Kris had been checking in on her throughout the day, but I wasn’t sure how many of those visits she actually remembered, and Kenley had taken a long hot bath, then laid down for a nap.
I promised Gran I’d help with dinner as soon as I’d cleaned up.
When I turned off the downstairs shower, clean, but even more exhausted, I could hear Gran holding a conversation with herself while she cubed cheese for some kind of spicy dip she said Kris had loved since he was a kid. I dried and put on more borrowed clothes, then rung my hair out in my towel. I was wiping the mirror with a clean rag, ready to pull a comb through my tangled hair, when someone answered Gran’s question.
The rag fell from my hand into the sink and I froze, listening carefully.
The voice spoke again. It was a woman, but it was definitely not Gran. Or Kenley.
I glanced around the bathroom for several seconds, searching for Kris’s phone—which I’d had all day—and my gun before realizing I’d left both in the living room. On the coffee table.
Damn it! I hadn’t expected to be threatened in our own House of Crazy. But unarmed or not, I couldn’t leave Gran alone with whoever she was talking to, so I opened the door as quietly as I could, then stepped into the hall. I’d gone two steps toward the kitchen, listening as Gran listed ingredients for her dip, before the loose board in front of the hall closet creaked, announcing my approach.
A woman stepped into the living room doorway, and even with her form backlit by the brighter light from the kitchen, I recognized her.
“Sera!” Gran called from behind her, chopping onions at the counter. “Do you know Gwendolyn? She and her friend are friends of my daughter, Nikki. They’re going to try some of my dip while they wait for her to get back.”
I smiled at Lynn and ran the fingers of my left hand through my wet hair. Poor Gran. “Nikki is...”
“I know. Nikki may not be back for a while.” Lynn winked at me as her friend stepped into the doorway with her—a tall man who nodded at me, but didn’t smile. “This is Sean. He gave me a ride.”
Sean was a Traveler. He had to be, because the only way they could have gotten into the locked-up house was through the closet we’d left dark for Kris and the rest of my new family.
“Hi, Sean,” I said. He nodded in greeting, but said nothing. “What...um...what are you doing here?”
“We were worried about you.” Lynn frowned, studying me. Looking for signs of injury. “My sister-in-law has been ranting about you for days, and that woman is... Well, messing with Julia is never a good idea. When she disappeared yesterday, we worried that she’d gotten to you.”
“You were worried about me?” The widow was worried about her husband’s bastard daughter?
Lynn shrugged. “You may not be my family—not by blood, anyway—but you’re my children’s sister. I couldn’t face them if I hadn’t done everything I could to make sure you were okay.”
Wow. Julia, my own flesh and blood, had wanted me dead. But Gwen searched me out on her own, just because it was the right thing to do. Speaking of which...
“How did you find me?” Suspicion raised the hairs on my arms. I was untrackable.
“It wasn’t easy.” Lynn gave a nervous little laugh. “And the solution was kind of...grisly. When Julia disappeared, I searched her office. I found a bag of blood in the cabinet labeled with Kenley Daniels’s name, so I used it to have her tracked, on the off-chance that you were with her.” She shrugged. “We got no reading on her for the longest time, then, suddenly, she was just...there.”
When Kris had taken her back to the house, and out of the influence of my jamming ability.
And that’s when I noticed that my gun was no longer on the coffee table.
My pulse raced so fast that my vision started to swim, but I made myself smile. I stopped myself from fidgeting, or glancing nervously at Gran over Lynn’s shoulder, or doing anything else to tip them off to my suspicion. Which was ill-formed, at best.
Why were they really here?
“Well, you’ve found me. And I’m fine, as you can see.” I spread my arms in demonstration.
“And Julia?” Lynn watched me carefully as I sank onto the arm of the nearest living room chair, desperate to look casual. “Have you seen her today? She’s still...missing.”
Oh. Could that be it? Was she trying to find out if we’d taken Julia out of power? Or out of the world? I knew from my first encounter with them both that there was no love lost between the widow and her sister-in-law.
“Julia’s... You won’t have to worry about her for a while,” I said. Or ever.
“Oh, good!” Lynn looked so relieved I couldn’t help smiling with her. Until she pulled my gun from behind her leg and aimed it at me.
It took several trips through the shadows to get all the trash out of the warehouse, and once that was done, Kris took me back to the house so I could check on Gran and Kenley and come up with something for dinner. Something that would feed nine.
Gran was glad to see me. Kris had been checking in on her throughout the day, but I wasn’t sure how many of those visits she actually remembered, and Kenley had taken a long hot bath, then laid down for a nap.
I promised Gran I’d help with dinner as soon as I’d cleaned up.
When I turned off the downstairs shower, clean, but even more exhausted, I could hear Gran holding a conversation with herself while she cubed cheese for some kind of spicy dip she said Kris had loved since he was a kid. I dried and put on more borrowed clothes, then rung my hair out in my towel. I was wiping the mirror with a clean rag, ready to pull a comb through my tangled hair, when someone answered Gran’s question.
The rag fell from my hand into the sink and I froze, listening carefully.
The voice spoke again. It was a woman, but it was definitely not Gran. Or Kenley.
I glanced around the bathroom for several seconds, searching for Kris’s phone—which I’d had all day—and my gun before realizing I’d left both in the living room. On the coffee table.
Damn it! I hadn’t expected to be threatened in our own House of Crazy. But unarmed or not, I couldn’t leave Gran alone with whoever she was talking to, so I opened the door as quietly as I could, then stepped into the hall. I’d gone two steps toward the kitchen, listening as Gran listed ingredients for her dip, before the loose board in front of the hall closet creaked, announcing my approach.
A woman stepped into the living room doorway, and even with her form backlit by the brighter light from the kitchen, I recognized her.
“Sera!” Gran called from behind her, chopping onions at the counter. “Do you know Gwendolyn? She and her friend are friends of my daughter, Nikki. They’re going to try some of my dip while they wait for her to get back.”
I smiled at Lynn and ran the fingers of my left hand through my wet hair. Poor Gran. “Nikki is...”
“I know. Nikki may not be back for a while.” Lynn winked at me as her friend stepped into the doorway with her—a tall man who nodded at me, but didn’t smile. “This is Sean. He gave me a ride.”
Sean was a Traveler. He had to be, because the only way they could have gotten into the locked-up house was through the closet we’d left dark for Kris and the rest of my new family.
“Hi, Sean,” I said. He nodded in greeting, but said nothing. “What...um...what are you doing here?”
“We were worried about you.” Lynn frowned, studying me. Looking for signs of injury. “My sister-in-law has been ranting about you for days, and that woman is... Well, messing with Julia is never a good idea. When she disappeared yesterday, we worried that she’d gotten to you.”
“You were worried about me?” The widow was worried about her husband’s bastard daughter?
Lynn shrugged. “You may not be my family—not by blood, anyway—but you’re my children’s sister. I couldn’t face them if I hadn’t done everything I could to make sure you were okay.”
Wow. Julia, my own flesh and blood, had wanted me dead. But Gwen searched me out on her own, just because it was the right thing to do. Speaking of which...
“How did you find me?” Suspicion raised the hairs on my arms. I was untrackable.
“It wasn’t easy.” Lynn gave a nervous little laugh. “And the solution was kind of...grisly. When Julia disappeared, I searched her office. I found a bag of blood in the cabinet labeled with Kenley Daniels’s name, so I used it to have her tracked, on the off-chance that you were with her.” She shrugged. “We got no reading on her for the longest time, then, suddenly, she was just...there.”
When Kris had taken her back to the house, and out of the influence of my jamming ability.
And that’s when I noticed that my gun was no longer on the coffee table.
My pulse raced so fast that my vision started to swim, but I made myself smile. I stopped myself from fidgeting, or glancing nervously at Gran over Lynn’s shoulder, or doing anything else to tip them off to my suspicion. Which was ill-formed, at best.
Why were they really here?
“Well, you’ve found me. And I’m fine, as you can see.” I spread my arms in demonstration.
“And Julia?” Lynn watched me carefully as I sank onto the arm of the nearest living room chair, desperate to look casual. “Have you seen her today? She’s still...missing.”
Oh. Could that be it? Was she trying to find out if we’d taken Julia out of power? Or out of the world? I knew from my first encounter with them both that there was no love lost between the widow and her sister-in-law.
“Julia’s... You won’t have to worry about her for a while,” I said. Or ever.
“Oh, good!” Lynn looked so relieved I couldn’t help smiling with her. Until she pulled my gun from behind her leg and aimed it at me.
